So I am designing and building a 6 axis robotic arm and I really need help finding the right library and communication method to talk to the bus servos I have installed. This is the product page and this is the google drive with the documentation that the manufacturer provided. I also put an image of the arm below. The first 3 axes are stepper motors, and the last 3 are servos, and the gripper is also a servo. The microcontroller that is wired to all the hardware is an ESP32 programmed with the arduino IDE, and it must communicate both ways with a computer over serial.
My understanding of how the servos work is this. The way the servos talk to the microcontroller is through UART serial communication. Each servo is first individually given a byte for its ID, and then all servos are connected to the same data line for both RX and TX, as well as the same power supply. When a command is sent out, it starts by addressing the ID of the motor. The servos have a variety of read and write functions that I need to use to get the arm to work the way I want it to. Part of the challenge is that there are parts of the arm that require multiple full rotations (the servos do have continuous rotation capabilities).
There are two big obstacles I am facing that I really need help overcoming:
1. I am unsure how to execute some of the write commands and any of the read commands with the servos I have installed. I have tried a lot of things but I am pretty stuck. I have only had success with the write ID and write position commands.
2. I don't know how to avoid conflicts between the required serial communication between the USB serial communication between the ESP32 and computer, and the serial communication between the servos and the ESP32. I am considering software serial but I am unfamiliar with that.
Thank you!
Simon
My understanding of how the servos work is this. The way the servos talk to the microcontroller is through UART serial communication. Each servo is first individually given a byte for its ID, and then all servos are connected to the same data line for both RX and TX, as well as the same power supply. When a command is sent out, it starts by addressing the ID of the motor. The servos have a variety of read and write functions that I need to use to get the arm to work the way I want it to. Part of the challenge is that there are parts of the arm that require multiple full rotations (the servos do have continuous rotation capabilities).
There are two big obstacles I am facing that I really need help overcoming:
1. I am unsure how to execute some of the write commands and any of the read commands with the servos I have installed. I have tried a lot of things but I am pretty stuck. I have only had success with the write ID and write position commands.
2. I don't know how to avoid conflicts between the required serial communication between the USB serial communication between the ESP32 and computer, and the serial communication between the servos and the ESP32. I am considering software serial but I am unfamiliar with that.
Thank you!
Simon